Rangers-Bruins in review; Live Chat at noon today

Well, we’re sure going to have a lot to discuss today. So close your door and make believe you’re hard at work while you join the Live Chat today at noon. Bring questions and comments about the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Boston, or about the Rick Nash trade talk (it’s no longer rumors, folks), or about the season so far and the season that’s left, or about, dare we say, the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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I’m not saying the Rangers are better than the Bruins, or at least not that much better. Roger Neilson used to say, it’s not who you play as much as when you play them. The Bruins are going through a rough patch right now. Right now, Feb. 14-15, 2012, the Rangers are much better than they are.

Does that make sense?

Thoughts:

1) The best part, maybe, is that the Rangers didn’t think they played great, and they all said it. Brandon Dubinsky (though swollen, bloody, stitched-up lips and chipped teeth) said the coaches are sure going to point out where they need to be better. Says a lot about this team, and about its coaches … the head coach should walk away with the Jack Adams Trophy, though I’m sure he couldn’t care less.

2) Even the best team in the East has rough patches during the course of games, and when they do, their best player is at his best almost every time. Henrik Lundqvist is the best goaltender in the league, and probably doesn’t even get enough credit for why the Rangers have won so many games … or lost so few. There probably aren’t enough intelligent voters for Lundqvist to win the MVP which he certainly deserves as the No. 1 reason for the best team being the best team, and there sure are enough clueless voters among the GMs who select the Vezina, so there’s a chance he will win neither. But he should win both. Seven shutouts! Seemed he was just showin’ off against Krejci on the PP breakaway in the final minute.

3) This game was not nearly as brutally physical as last time they met.

4) Rangers: 5-1 in last six vs. Boston; 7-0 in last seven vs. Flys.

5) The Rangers defensemen — and I’ve been meaning to say this for a while — don’t slide around on their knees nearly as much this year. Which is why they clog the front of the net as well as they do, why they block passes across the front, why they take the man and let Lundqvist handle rebounds … and limit the number of rebounds he has to handle. I like it that Marc Staal’s starting to get a little ticked off during games. He plays better that way.

6) Milan Lucic=Monster.

7) Yeah, the Rangers didn’t have the puck enough, and didn’t create a lot. But, geez. There was that tic-tac-toe Ryan Callahan PPG, which was identical to one he scored on the weekend. This is why the PP should be better. Marian Gaborik, Michael Del Zotto, Derek Stepan and Brad Richards are all exceptional passers. Del Zotto moving in from the left poiint is a new wrinkle lately. Reminds me of last year when, until teams figured it out, they had Marc Staal circling into the slot, and a forward moving to the left point and cheating into the circle.

8) Stepan made a really good play against Johnny Boychuk along the back wall that allowed the flukish Ryan McDonagh goal late in the first. Game-changing goal.

9) How about the Captain with six goals in the last four? He did absolutely everything, didn’t he? Again. And Richards looks like a completely different player the last four or five games, doesn’t he?

10) I know that the Rangers are looking to land Rick Nash, and not sure if they can or will. One of the guys in the talk is Artem Anisimov, who continues to show in spurts that he’s still a very promising work in progress. On his goal, I thought he was going to pass it, and I was already thinking in my head how I was going to rip him for forcing the pass.

11) We sure had some fun with the nose jokes regarding Brad Marchand — the Bruins’ Callahan-type. When I spoke with Pat Verbeek the other night, he sounded ticked that they’re calling Marchand “the Little Ball of Hate.” But Marchand is that.

Badly outplayed in the last 40 minutes as the shots were 32-8…wow! Maybe they are tired like Torts said, but they didn’t look it in the 1st period. We know the Bruins have more overall skill, but I was still surprised to see them dominate play for so long. Lundqvist looks the best he’s ever been. I’m just happy they won, but the Blackhawks are severely pissed, and the Rangers need a much better consistent effort on Thursday.
I’m begging the Rangers not to trade the farm for anyone, including all these rumors about Nash. Anisimov looks brilliant at times, and he’s young, and confident he will improve. His goal was a thing of beauty. I want to see a Stanley cup contender for years to come, like the Devils before last year, and the Red Wings, not just one run like 1994, as we’re still suffering 18 years later.
The guy I’m thinking he Rangers made a mistake not keeping is P.A. Parenteau! You think the Rangers could use him on the 3rd line right about now, or even as a top 6 guy? I’d say so. If I’m not mistaken, he would be leading the Rangers in points right now!
Again, hockey Gods and Sather, please don’t make a huge trade that will mortgage the future and possibly ruin the chemistry of this team right now, and in the future.

While I think Lundqvist deserves every bit of recognition that might/should come his way, MVP consideration would still seem a little unfair, only because it adds to the (outside) perception that he is the _only_ thing that makes the Rangers a good team.

Yes, he’s a huge part of everything and who knows how many fewer points the team would have without him, but he’s still not been “stealing” games night after night behind a badly coached lottery pick line-up.

Krieder’s name keeps coming up in the trade rumors or Nash. And that’s Krieder + draft picks+ current roster player rumors. Would anyone at this blog even trade Nash for Krieder straight up, let alone add the other assets? I think Sather would be maimed. Isn’t there a chance Krieder plays this year for the Rangers after BC is done? Wouldn’t that be like getting a big (albeit rookie) trade deadline deal without giving anything up?

Not trying to find the black cloud in the silver lining but there were at least 2 painful elongated times when our 5 were trapped in their own zone and what line was struggling defensively? Richards centering cally and Hags. I focused on Richards and have come to the conclusion he is absolutely horrendous on D and may be their worst defensive forward. Very much a floater who has trouble in traffic along the boards.

We have 6 more years of watching that lack of grit and, yes, effort, yikes!

Favorite part of game was Staal slamming lucid back to ice after scrum in front.

Agree LW… listening to opposing teams broadcast, they have the idea that Hank. is the ONLY REASON FOR THE TEAMS SUCCESS.
Torts has built a system that relies on great overall team defense, with Hank being the showcase. But like is said many times on this board.. the sum of all the parts are greater than any individual.

The young man’s name is Kreider…not Krieder ( as evidenced in several write ups, and with his Bean Pot descriptions. And pronounced Kryder…not Kreeder.
I’m not trying to pull your chain, just trying to keep the ID consistent. The play by play guys will probably be the last to find this out. (German you know).

Look…it is obvious that the Ranges have a human barricade in the net ( unfair unfair), and that two of the best scoring teams in the league couldn’t get past him. Also obvious that the team needs a “finisher)…the type of guy who comes up with the decisive goal when all else fails ( and you cannot keep dumping this task on Callahan.) Why not look see
at some of their best shooters in Whaleville?

Your right Stranger, I cant stand Richards on that line. Torts has to spot Mitchell there because with Haggys speed and Callys forechecking the line is only missing a body to get near the slot and shoot I.e. Mitchell.

Agreed, Lundqvist should get both awards. Steiner sports is advertising the king signing autographs out on the island tomorrow night. For him to be there AND play the blackhawks at the same time, he’s HAVE to be an MVP.
Carp, can’t chat today, taking the daughter for her second crack at her road test. (UGH)

Very interesting comments above, I have been saying that I don’t care if they trade Anisimov. But, last night gave me pause. He is a big kid, still very young and skates very well. His goal was impressive. Faked the pass and beautiful wrist shot. I wonder what his upside is?

Johnnyboy, I have to disagree with you about the Bruins announcers! By the third period, the Rangers AS A TEAM had won those guys over. They were effusive of the Rangers team play and of their system. They consistently were talking about McDonagh in glowing terms. They even mentioned how they got him and “GOT RID OF A BLOATED CONTRACT”!! LOL!!! Gotta love that one.

I am so torn about these Nash rumors. There have been so many times this year when the Rangers have had trouble scoring. The PP has been lousy for most of the year. Nash is a MONSTER! Can Sather put a package together without really hurting this team?

I can see the arguments to get this guy. But there is a LARGE part of me that wants to see Kreider, Erixon et al be part of the young core of this team. There is a part of me that thinks that by holding on to our young prospects, maybe we can contend and win a couple of cups in the next 5-7 years while Hank is still a force to be reckoned with.

There is one thing I know for sure,( I have been a Ranger fan since I was nine years old and Jean Ratelle was my hero) I love this team and I love their moxie. I am soaking in every part of this season because we are witnessing something very special in Ranger history.

The 2nd and 3rd were extreme examples of what the stat junkies like to refer as “score effect” when it comes to possession and ultimately shots. Teams that tend to take the lead early often wind up getting outshot for the game as they go into a defensive mode. I don’t quite agree with the tactic with so much game left to play but the Rangers did outshoot the B’s in the first and I suspect after they got the late goal to go up 2-0 they dialed the attack back combined with the B’s urgency to really bring it.

For all the plaudits that the Boston defense gets I think the Rangers can play a game that exploits some of the weakness they have. Chara is still slow in tight spots, Seidenberg isnt a terribly good defender nor is Corvo and the rest of their guys are a bit one dimensional. As a unit they make it work but when the Rangers were on attack they forced some turnovers in the other end and pressured some bad outlet passes. Still a best of 7 between these two teams would, particularly with a trip to the finals on the line would be a delight.

As much as I like Anisimov, I think I would trade him for Nash, but I wouldn’t go TOO crazy for him. I would trade Anisimov, one of the guys in the minors and a first rounder (assuming our 1st rounder this year will be at the bottom of the draft). But I’ve heard they want Stepan or McD and there’s NO way I’d trade either.

Any word on Sauer? Might not be a bad move to pick up a vet defenseman better than Eminger if we can get him without breaking the bank. Otherwise, we’re set.

Callahan has more PPG each of the last 3 seasons than Nash. Nash had one exceptional season on the PP in the last year of the dead puck era where he was in a 3 way tie for the Richard Trophy with 41 goals (19 PPG).

The visions of Nash as a consistent 40 G guy are a bit optimistic seeing as he’s been as much a low 30 G guy as a high 30/40 G guy.

Steve glad you mentioned Sauer. He seems like the forgotten guy. Let’s not forget what a SOLID defenseman he had developed into! Can you imagine the D with a healthy Sauer. I pray we see him back this year. It would make an excellent defensive corps that much better…..

Nash is a 30-35 G, 65-70 pt type of player. He is a power forward finisher. Is he worth his contract? No. Who is, save for Malkin and maybe Toews.

For those who question his forechecking ability should review Canada’s games in the last Olympics when he was plastering opponents’ D with a nasty edge. 6’3″, 240lbs with and nasty streak is something I would like to see.

If the Rangers play .500 hockey to the end of the season they will have 106 pts. Than means Boston would need to play .660 hockey the rest of the way to catch them. MSG is ALIVE with something special ,and at the last second last night I order my LIN Blueshirt Sweater . What a great week of Rangers hockey . I do miss #16, but I also missed #22 back in ’94. Sorry I said to much.Lets just think about the Hawks for now.

Sam and Joe mentioned Horton’s concussion set-back last night and I was crossing my fingers there was going to be some kind of good news about Sau-Pow. I hope hes skating soon. There has been some comments about not getting Nash a supporting cast. Mason has had some great stretches of goal-play. They got Umberger and Carter(maybe CBJ wont want to deal with Philthy anymore), Mike Commodore, Sami Pahlsson, and Wisnewski. Granted a lot of these things havent worked out but they have tried. As much as I hate to say it…
Artie, ^Hobbit Wizard^, Erixon/McIlrath, 3/4th round FOR Nash, D prospect, 6/7 round
Dubi is an integral part of the chemistry of the team, and in 2013/14 McDonagh, Stepan, Hagelin, Sauer and Anisimov will all need new contracts so take your pick there.

As long as they don’t give up Kreider for Nash I say OK. Anisimov? Give up acquiring a 30 goal guy to keep a 15 goal guy? Erixon? They have enough defensemen playing well and McIlrath is still in the wings even though he’s a completely different player than Erixon. Draft picks? Give them a whole slew of ’em. Don’t care.

The only thing I’m weary of is that the team is playing so well right now I’d hate to interrupt that by adding a star player. I know some people think that chemistry is sometimes overrated, but the team is beating everybody right now without Nash.

CARP is right about Nash. He is a freaking MONSTER… And he has a soft pair of hands… I think he must be hungry to win and this would really motivate him. The question is the price! Look, after years of bad trades and decisions, our drafting seems to have hit the mark. I do have faith that Tim Erixon and Chris Kreider will be impact NHL players… What decisions! Especially when the Rangers are playing so well…………..

If Crosby were healthy, and Ovechkin acted interested in competing, ans we didn’t beat the Flyers 5 out of 5 times, would we still be in 1st by 9 points? That’s why a reasonable effort to gun for it needs to be made this season.

Kings paid a pretty steep price to get Penner-cakes. Yeah, Dustin Penner who doesn’t have anywhere close to the perceived value as Nash. It is going to take a haul to get Nash out of CBJ and the guy better shoot the lights out for at least the next 3-4 season (certainly do better than his curent pro-rated 26 goal season) and the team has to deliver a Cup within that time for me to consider that move a success.

I don’t know, Carp, I thought it was a clinic last night…Clinic on how to defend, how to forecheck, play offense, and how to score a PP goal in the first period. And even though they got severely outshot the rest of the way, I thought they defended very well. What do you expect? The SC Champs Bruins are at home, being embarassed 2-0 after 1 period. Of course they’ll bring it! The Bruins did get frustrated the rest of the way. And at the end it was a clinic on how to play a goaltending position. Overall, I’d say it was a very well executed road game against one of the best teams in the league.

Anisimov, I thought, deserved to be praised even before he scored. He was one of the better defending forwards last night. The goal was a bonus.

If you want to have a reasonable look at Nash situation, go to Rodents’ website. And do not fool yourself, folks. AA or Dubinsky, plus Kreider, plus first rounder *WILL NOT* be nearly enough to get Nash here. Not realistic. And if Rodent is right, and Toronto is in ( which makes sense, knowing Burke), we may be talking bidding war.

I watched the game after a nice dinner with my wife. She was kind enough to rush the dinner so we could see the Rangers game. We found a bar about 3/4 of the way through the first period. Got there in enough time to see McBust’s flukey, but well deserved, goal.

I say this: There were 10 televisions in the bar. Everyone in the bar was a New York Sports fan. 8 Televisions had LINsanity on, one had the Red Wings / Stars game and one small television I was sitting in front of had the Rangers game. The bar went CRAZY for LIN. That was a very exciting game, but the bar was entranced with the basketball. As I was cheering for the shutout for Hank, which ended around the same time, people were paying their tabs. A few of them looked a the television and said, whoah hockey. Another guy said, “I hate that guy in goal.” Why? I have no idea. Maybe the guy’s mother thinks Hank is dreamy. Who knows. Point is, NBA gets a bar bumping.

I am happy to be a fan of a spot that not everyone likes. More room for us.

Mister Delaware.. Where did you get the idea that I can’t stand Dubinski? You MUST have me mixed up with someone else. There really is not one guy on this team that I don’t like! How could you not like this bunch?

Am I disappointed with Dubi’s offensive output after last years “career year”. Absolutely! But, do I still think he brings important things to this team and is a key cog? Abolutely!

I don’t know about this Nash deal guys. It’s really exciting to think about but losing Krieder and losing draft picks and losing some guys on the roster seems really stupid. It’s just too much. On top of that, we end up maxing out our cap space again. I like the mobility. I don’t want to lose this team because we are stuck with Nash and Richards until 2027.

I have much more, ilb2001, but CARP has siphoned the life out of me with threats of expulsion if I ever step into the Boiler Room again.

I’d go as far as to call him bush-league, but he redeems himself with somewhat-entertaining game recaps that, while masquerading the truth about these clowns, do provide some insight into the once-in-a-blue-moon minimal strengths this team displays.

Given that, I will add that watching this collection of pansies is analogous to watching early-morning car dealer promos on Telemundo.

Manny – that is an old story in Gotham – Knicks fans outnumber Ranger fans 5 to 1 at a minimum. In 94 when both were going strong in the Spring, the bars would be full for Knicks’ games and tumbleweeds blowing when Rangers were on. Except for special spots like the Anchor Bar on the Upper East side. Then the OJ nightmare started and it became surreal.

No room on the Lin bandwagon – hopefully for him and New York, it continues.

Carp: Disagree on that punk Marchand being the little ball of hate II. That’s insulting Verbeek, IMO. Marchand is a cheap-shot artist who I’m convinced wouldn’t do 1/2 the crap he does if he wasn’t on the Bruins.

I can’t wait until someone drives his ugly face through the boards and concusses him for a year – that’s what punks like him deserve.

I’m no PK Subban booster, but dunno if you saw earlier in the season when Subban went after that Marchand; that punk ran away scared.

I saw Barry Melrose about a month ago say how the Bruins were the best team in the league and would win the cup again this year. Ever since than boston has struggle. I hope Melrose doesn’t change his mind and say that about the rangers. Melrose is the death wish of all death wishes. When he predicts who will win the cup he is never right.

I am actually very calm on Nash’s trade front. The moment Carp confirmed that the Rangers are really in, I did some numbers on capgeek to see why they are so relaxed about his cap hit. It is much more calculated move than I, and most of us, initially thought, on Rangers part. The clue will be the end of 2012-2013 season. And it’s very doable. They might not be able to resign some young players, but most of them will not be arbitration eligible. And some they may actually move in Nash, or some other deal. The only risk I see is if new CBA changes the age of RFA/arbitration eligibility. The reason I’m calm, also, is because I truly believe that if Columbus demands much more than Slats is willing to give up, he will walk away. If you ask me, there is no doubt Nash makes this team much, much more imposing offensively, his stats aside. But I’m also content with going in postseason with what they have right now and see what this bunch can do. They can add more in July.

I don’t know why but I confident that the rangers are not going to get Nash. I read that the Bluejackets are listening to offers to gauge what the market is for Nash and if they did trade him it would be in the off season. Plus I’ve read he has told Columbus that he would only go to a few teams. I feel the rangers aren’t one of them. I can see Montreal canadiens trading for Nash.

manny- think how i feel out here in iowa. nobody watches hockey. i cannot find or evnbribe someone to drink a few beers and watch a game with. theyd rather watch country joes polka show. lame!! i wen to gamestop to buy nhl 12 when it came out, and i had a reszerved copy. idk why i did, i was the only one in the town that pre ordered it. somebody save me. please!! i need to hear a ny accent. i need to be in bad traffic, getting cut off on the road. i need ny pizza, not cardboard with ketchup on it!! i need to seethe rangers live again!! ineed to travel the world to meet fascinating people of an ancient culture,…and kill them!

“Marchand is a cheap-shot artist who I’m convinced wouldn’t do 1/2 the crap he does if he wasn’t on the Bruins. I can’t wait until someone drives his ugly face through the boards and concusses him for a year – that’s what punks like him deserve.”

100% correct Jim!! LGR!!! The best part about these Rangers is we intimidate other teams and out-physical other teams without cheap shots and dirty play like Lucic, Marchand, Ference, and Chara. We play the right way!!

tomg- i doubt we get nash too. we would have to give up too much, especially after all this time investing and developing these young guys. the only thing is though, is we wont be able to keep all of them anyway. we really need a legit 1st line winger(lw) to realy help out the scoring fr the playoffs. gabby has come down to earth big time. richards too. i’m torn on wanting to win now an waiting. who knows if kreider is as good as we think he could be. AA? trade him in a second, not so much duby, but yes, for nash, yes. this years 1st? yea. will that be enough? no. how muh more would it take? no matter what, people will be pissed either way. a rental would be my choice. like with whitney or smyth. its enticing though. hope whatever happens, we dont suffer for it later

kreider is not as fast as hagelin. that is like saying buffet is not as rich as bill gates.

kreider is friggin fast. bidding war…. why would the best team in the league with young talent everywhere(Rangers) get in a bidding war for a guy with a 6 yr $42 mill deal??????

They would not unless they are insane. PAss on this total winner stud, the next superstar. WHo in 8 years has won zilch………….to improve the offense 10 to 15 goals max they are giving up 4 pieces!!!!!!!!!NAH………..

stay the course the best move often is the move you do not make…………………..

Did I or did I not email you weeks ago the deal that’s basically been bandied about the past few days? Prust sayin’!

One thing everyone’s missing; JT Miller, grew up in Ohio, is a very attractive target for the CBJs. They’d like the fashion their Nash-less team as a lunch pail crew resembling who? Yup.
The supposed ‘prices’ we’re seeing quoted are far from reality, as I heard it.
Guys like Larry Brooks doing the CBJ’s dirty work disseminating idiotic quotes like 4 major assets. Gimme a break and go cover Wavery in Connecticut, idiot.

Best I can get a handle on it, NYR would consider one major piece from AA/Dubi/Kreider, that is all. You do have the prospect of a Sauer being included on a conditional basis as well.
I loved what Michael Sauer was bringing this team so I’d be very sorry to see that happen, tough situation.

Also, Nash may have boxed the BJs in a bit with his short list. That’d be a factor.
It’s easy to get Nash fever, but it’s Sather’s job not to. This team is not only screaming “if it ain’t broke” right now, but Rangers have other options that could ‘possibly’ have an impact along the lines of what a Nash could bring, without the $50m commitment.
A guy like Kostitsyn, in the right situation, for instance. A multi-talented bull when he wants to be. Much much cheaper. Real tough calls here for Sather.

Rutherford screwed himself out of a return on Ruutu, who’s now injured. Got too cute, serves him right. Now he gets nothing.

This is the trade we need to make for Nash — Dubinsky, Dylan McClrath, Wolski and a 1st round pick.

Listen if Nash replaces Dubinsky in our line-up we are in good shape. I dont want to lose anyone from our current line up but I think you have to if your brining in Nash or else that might hurt the locker room because guys would have to sit out. Plus if we make that trade we can still add Ryan Suter or Ruttu, or Selane or any of those players at the deadline for some picks and make a real run at this thing.

The ~real~ problem with acquiring Nash or some other high-profile forward is that it means the Rangers absolutely have to win the Cup, this year, or lose on the trade. Good as this team looks up till now, and at this point I am going to assume they can keep their magical momentum going, Boston, Detroit (damn, they look dominant, now), and Vancouver figure just as strongly in the post-season picture as do the Rangers. And a “dark horse” like Pittsburgh could surface from April – June and win it all, too.

So that the natural odds against the Rangers winning the Cup this year, even with Nash, or a Nash-type acquision, cannot be lower than 3-1, and might be more like 4 or 5-1. Let’s say Nash upgrades the Rangers chances of winning it all from 4-1 to 3-1, that means that Nash improves the team’s chances of winning the Cup this year from 20 per cent to 25 per cent. For this we are talking about letting AA, and maybe Hags or Dubi, or Thomas, or even Kreider, plus a number one draft pick get away? That would be INSANE!

Another point about Kreider, and yes, he hasn’t scored an NHL goal yet, but it seems to me he is the best Rangers prospect (Cherepanov possibly excepted) since Brian Leetch. Are there some here who are sorry the Rangers did not trade young, inexperienced Brian Leetch for some 27-31 year-old “established” NHL veteran sniper? Or did we get a payoff from giving Leetch a shot, from Day One when he stepped on the ice in an NHL game? So what is so difficult about exercising the same restraint re Kreider, and I would say, Hagelin too, especially since we now know that he brings an all-around productive package to the table?

Sometimes a GM has to be a good poker player and wait for the big pot showdown, not push all his chips into a small pot for some immediate gain. Slats is going to show us his character, in the next 12 days either by what he doesn’t do to wreck this train, or by what he does do to derail the Rangers Express.

Even if Slats demonstrates the restraint that some of us here want him to exhibit, there is always the factor of a meddling owner hanging over his shoulder, telling him to get it (a mind-numbing dumb-ass trade) done, just for the P.R. value on the back page of the DN, for a day. This is the biggest concern we should have, right now. That this frilly owner will gum it up, yet again, for this team, the coach, and the fan base, just to ensure getting beyond round one to have the rationale to raise ticket prices, yet again. Hell, we really don’t want a Stanley Cup championship around here, we just want more revenues in the bank, next year. Right, Jimmy?

I’d rather see em’ take a run at this with the current roster and an “affordable” rental…see what we actually have, gain some experience, continue to build a champion for years.
As currently constructed I really really like this team. I’d love to see what Kreider brings.
For all the talk about him, it would really suck to see him playing elsewhere.
I remember many times in the past comments about players traded away from this organization who went on to become really good players in other organizations…Prust sayin’
We are at a point where a trade could result in even more players being added to the list of players we once had, but traded away.

Oleo, I had the pleasure of seeing Chris Kreider play at the TD center in the 2010 beanpot ( a bucket list experience for all true hockey fans!!). If Kreider is not as fast as Hagelin, it is pretty damn close. Personally, having seen him play live, I think he skates as fast as Carl does. On the other hand, his amazing speed was going against some guys that aren’t NHL quality skaters and never will be so it is a little hard to judge.

But, the bottom line is this. the “HYPE” from msg about his skating ability (whether he is as fast as Hags or not) is well deserved! And it is even more amazing because he is a very big boy!

Suter isn’t going anywhere. This is Nashville’s last hurrah with Suter/Weber. I bet they’re buyers at the deadline.

Ruutu was essentially taken off the market when he was recently injured.

Selanne has never played in the East, and with a full NMC I doubt he waives to come to the Rangers. Not to mention the Ducks GM has said that him and Koivu aren’t on the block. I think he’d be a great piece to add at a reasonable cost, but I don’t see Selanne leaving the West at this point.

Where does Zucc play on the current team? He’s not taking any of the wing spots from Gaby, Cally, Hagelin on the top 2 lines. Anisimov has picked up play so I assume they’re keeping the GAS line intact for the time being. He’s not going to get the defensive assignments that Boyle-Prust-Dubi get and it’s a waste to have him on the 4th line.

Bear in mind that these are REDUCED odds, since the house takes about 30 per cent rake off the top, as its profit. So they are really saying …

Boston is really about 6-1
NYR – about 7-1
Vancouver – about 7-1
Detroit – about 8-1
Pitts – about 10-1
San Jose – about 10-1

This means that right now Las Vegas and the offshores betting sites are giving the Rangers about a natural 1/8 = 12 1/2 per cent chance of winning it all. So that acquiring Nash, even if it gives the team animmediate boost, is only going to put the Rangers in the area of 5-1 (16 -17 per cent) chance of winning it all, this year.

It is good to check gambling odds on your team, once in a while, to put some perspective alongside the runaway “optimism” some regular season success can generate, in fandom circles. You think they are not talking winning the Cup in those other cities? Guess again. The have already raised this year’s SC banner to the roof, figuratively speaking, in Detroit and Vancouver.

Temper all this feverish excitement over the Rangers with a good dose of reality – the field of contention is really deep and the Rangers figure about the middle of the pack, among the NHL’s elite teams, right now.

I see the acquisition of Nash as being akin to pushing the panic button and will blow up in the Rangers faces for years to come. Hold the line, Slats, the best is yet to come by doing that.

I’m not saying someone is going to steal Nash for an solid player and a 1st round pick but I personally think it is going to cost whoever wants him, less than is being speculated.

A last place team looking to blow it up. Their star wants out and they want him out(otherwise this isn’t happening.) There are only a handful of teams they can work with. He has a full NMC and a HUGE contract both of which the new team is going to have to deal with. The only position of power Columbus has is that they don;t have to move him, problem is they want to and he wants to be moved. That should lower either the asking price or at least what they are being offered. In my opinion it is going to be hard for Columbus to make such high demands with all the other GM’s knowing what we know.

When a GM says that a player “is not on the trading block” it means that he IS on the trading block and the GM is just upping the ante, a little. All public statements by politicians, sports figures, and Hollywood-types have to not only be taken with a grain of salt, they really should be taken for the blatant posturing, lies, or P.R. hype, that they are. NO ONE admits the truth in public any more, if they ever did, which I seriously doubt.

I think trading Kreider would be a huge mistake. This team CAN win the Cup this year, as currently constructed, if they continue to get goaltending like they have been. There’s just enough scoring. But what’s more exciting is that this team has a chance to be special for the next 5-7 years. By all accounts, Kreider is going to be the type of sniping forward that the Rangers need. I’d rather have him for half of what Nash makes for the next half decade. Getting a 27 year-old Rick Nash (with his declining goal production) and his nearly $8 million on the salary cap just doesn’t feel right, especially if you’re sacrificing Kreider.

Being a Ranger fan, I imagine the worst-case scenario with a move like this, which is Kreider goes to Columbus and puts up 40 goals per year, while Nash struggles to fit in with the Rangers and his salary prevents the Rangers from improving the rest of the team and/or signing it’s promising young talent.

Selanne has a no movement clause. He has first refusal at any trade. I think he holds enough sway in the Ducks org that if he wanted out to go to a winner they’d accomodate him since it would certainly benefit them to get something in return as well. But he seems like he wants to finish it out in Southern Cal.

The last thing I read out of Anaheim was Selanne wasn’t gong anywhere unless he asked to be traded. I read a quote from the GM about having loyalty to a guy who cares about the organization and took a home-town discount to come back and his future is solely up to him.

For everyone trying to not include Duby in a Nash deal, how do you propose they fit him under the cap? Anisimov’s cap hit is $1.875. If you waive Wolski, that’s $3.8. You still need to come up with another $2.2M in cap space. If you factor in bring someone up at $800-900k to replace Wolski on the roster, that’s $3M you have to find.

Didn’t say Zucc didn’t have talent, but it’s a matter of fit too. Hags has been a sparkplug when he’s in the top 6, I don’t see him moving from there for now until he slumps and speed doesn’t really slump.

Prust-Boyle-Dubi has been a pretty good line handling heavy defensive assignments.

That leaves the 4th line and I don’t see Zucc doing much of anything on the 4th line.

Selanne might prefer to go to Detroit or Vancouver, but he has to be thinking going out a winner, as they all do to put a cap on a HOF career. The NTC just gives him leverage to determine where he goes, and screw his present team if he opts to go to a city which doesn’t make the best offer. I see his contact more as leverage against his own team, than anything else.

Again, I suspect this is all posturing on the part of the player and the team involved, and it indicates that some fairly serious offers are coming in. Maybe even from the Rangers, although I agree, the Rangers figure as a long shot to get Selanne. Whoever gets him, the price won’t be exhorbitant. Not talking dangling Hags or AA or even Dubi, here, from the Rangers standpoint.

Gravy, I think the Rangers would have enough banked cap space for this season to fit Nash under the cap if AA was the only roster playing going the other way and they Whale’d Wolski to fit the pro-rated portion of Nash’s salary cap hit.

add to the core, strength for strength – Erixon for a young LW with big upside. That will solve the LW challenge as Kreider and new forward will man that side of Top 6 for next six years. JPP Jr. is a long shot at best.

Detroit is definitely the one team I could see Selanne waiving his NMC for. They seem to be a preferred choice of veteran players. But I don’t think Selanne is going to hold the Ducks hostage about where he wants to go.

This is from Torts on Henke last night: “He competes, you start with preparation and you watch how hard he competes. That has always endeared me to him. He is a pain in the ass to me some times, but he is the backbone of our club”

OK, let me think about this one again as I do almost daily. Rangers give up the bloated DISASTER of a contract that was Scotty Gomez. In return they get a piece that turns into Brandon Prust. They also get McDonagh who looks like he will be an All Star defenseman for the next 15 years. As a bonus, this kid has 6 goals while Gomez has 1 this season… PINCH ME FOR I AM DREAMING……..

I Rarely, great point. If they’d been on one of their streaks where they score one or two goals a game over four games, there’d be a lot of people screaming that Dubinsky and Anisimov suck and they need to be traded for a big scorer, pronto.

The one thing that Sather does seem to do correctly is trade. Thankfully, he has others to do drafting now. Free agency is still his weakest area. However, he wins more than loses when it comes to trades. I have no problem with trading Anisimov. Good player, but his upside is not anywhere near Nash. Dubi? Not near Nash at all. The two chips I would not give up are Kreider and Fasth. Beyond that, everybody else is on the table. Fasth is supposed to be Hagelin with more scoring touch. I would hate to lose Hagelin, but since they have a guy who might be better coming over soon, it would be more palatable. McD, DelZ, Girardi, Staal are all untouchable. Stepan and Cally are also on the untouchable list. Richards and Gabby aren’t going to be going anywhere no matter what (not that Columbus would be asking for either).

I actually think that Sather can pull this off rather well. Might not be good for some emotional connections to some players, but Nash is worth it. Also, trading with Columbus means that what we trade away will not haunt us in the future.

oleo,
it depends on where Ranger management thinks this team is. if they think, no matter what this team is still a year away, you trade for a rental and hope to get lucky. if they think this team can win the cup, you go get the piece they need to put them over the top.
me, I go get the piece to put them over the top.

Anybody with roster space and even 10 cents of cap space above Parise’s asking price is going to go after Parise. It’s far from a foregone conclusion that the Rangers can even offer the biggest deal.

At least with Nash some pieces would have to go the other way to make things work Parise would force the Rangers to trade some guys in order to make room. If not this offseason then certainly the next.

i also dont get why people think Sather is going to sell the farm and are worried about that! what has he done over the last 5 years to warrant this big worry hes going to trade the whole farm for one guy?? hes NOT going to do it

Looking at Fasth’s numbers, I see he is 5-11-16 pts, and +9 in the SEL. He is 5-11 tall, and 165 lbs and 20 years old.

I rather like Michael St. Croix, 18 years old, 5-11 -179 lbs. a center with Edmonton of the WHL. He is 36-51-87 points, in 57 games with +34 aggregate on plus/minus. Next highest plus – minus total in the entire Rangers system is some kid way down the chain with +14. In fact these are the only two Rangers prospects in positive double figures on plus-minus.

Everyone thinks it’s all about the money. If I were Parise I would sign a 7-9 year 6-6.5 mil a year deal. Plus looking ahead the Rangers are going to have to get rid of one of there top 4 D-men and bring in Erixon. You can’t just keep all these players if they are playing at this level. That why I think in the years to come you will see Gaborik traded (when he has one year left) along with one of our d-men for some high end draft picks. Kind of what Boston did with Toronto. It is almost inevitable with the way the team is coming along.

if that is the case Boom Boom,
then you don’t do it. I do not believe that the Rangers are built for the playoffs. this team is built for regular season success. I think they can win a round in the playoffs, and thats it.

Boom Boom-
Hagelin is 23. He has a few years on Fasth, so he is more advanced right now. The Rangers have a lot of guys in the system that may be real good in the future. Never thought I would say that in my lifetime.

Defense and goaltending is what the team is built around. We also have a couple scorers, led by Gaborik. Our power play is making improvements. Our penalty kill is best in the league. And the team mentality, led by Callahan, is to prevent shots on goal by playing stout defense and sacrificing life and limbs to block shots. Our forwards have the 2 way mentality, even if they may struggle in the offensive end. It’s a beautifully put together team.

Yes, I am with you re dumping the MZA and WW types, even Avery for an English muffin. I was thinking JAM might get a shot up here, this year, and was ok with that, although I haven’t checked on his progress in about a month. He was showing some promise, but at 5-9, is yet another undersized forward we don’t really need at the moment.

I am sorry Feds banged his head because I am afraid he will recover and actually be on the roster come playoff time. Bickel on the fourth line is intriguing, although probably not destined to last long, but still, a bit crazy as an experiment, given where this team is, right now. They must be looking at bringing in maybe two forwards, not just one.

Actually ok with a Selanne, as a low-rent district acquisition, for WW-type junk, and a middling draft choice. But scared we blow it all going the Nash route. Really enormous trepidation, there, re the prohibitive talent, system depth, and cap hit cost of bringing in Nash.

historically teams like the islanders and oilers were winning all the cups.. there is no teams like that in the league anymore.. the rangers have a good as chance as any of winning the cup.. pretty sure those devils teams werent offensive powerhouses.. or last years bruins

Again, the jackets want allot, period. Why would the rangers do this trade when in first place over all and set up to be good for years. This makes absolutely no sense. I’ve been a ranger fan since 1968. I have never been this excited about being a ranger fan than I am as of today. I am more excited than the early to mid 90’s team because the difference is this team was built through the draft and some crafty trades and two bluechip free agents where the 90’s teams was basically half of the 80’s oilers. Sather would be completely out of his mind to trade what columbus wants for a 8 mil guy who is soft for his size and averages 60-70 points a year, ridiculous.

I haven’t commented here before, but it’s the point where I have to say something and offer some insight.

I’ve been a Rangers fan since around 72-73, and that’s a lot of decades watching nearly every game and being through all of that with this franchise. Being a goalie myself, I pay close attention to who’s in net, and so it’s been me watching all the way from Giacomin up through Richter and now Lundqvist. (and elsewhere in the league, the other greats for the past few decades).

Lundqvist “today” is the best I’ve ever seen; by far; and what we’re seeing (and still finding hard to believe) is what I think is the state-of-the-art best performance in goaltending, ever. Period.

What he’s done is to go from being one of the best 5 (and that would mean: amazing, able to win games singlehandedly, have flashes of unbeatability… you couldn’t ask for better…. but it was still possible, in the end, for him to lose to a team that overwhelmed the Rangers in the playoffs – think back to the last few seasons)….

To now becoming almost superhuman; he’s that good, that strong, the moves he makes routinely now are just… ridiculous. As in, every game is a candidate for a shutout, and you wonder how anyone is able to score at all, and it doesn’t matter how many shots, or the quality of the shots.

He covers the net so strongly now – his speed and reflexes and POWER of movement – are by far the best I’ve ever seen. He’s playing at a different physical level and THAT is the difference that produces more shutouts; more wins; a lower GAA; even compared to the top-of-the-league level he’s been at the past few years.

Just watch closely, during the game (when things are so fast, it’s harder to appreciate) or during replays, when slo-mo makes it even more obvious (and unbelievable) what’s going on. He’s not only moving like a cat now; he’s more like a lion (strength) or a cheetah (speed). Side-to-side, getting down and covering the corners for wraparounds, getting back up and coming out instantly to attack a shooter in position in the slot, forcing the issue more now on breakaways/shootouts and then backing in, etc.

You see this happening constantly during a game, and it’s like watching a superman playing among normal humans – it’s just that good. I don’t believe “this” has ever been done before and he’s taken goaltending to a completely different level.

By far, now: he’s the best in the game, and the best there has ever been, and barring injury, I’m hoping for a Stanley Cup again this year, and believing it’s actually going to happen.